This Week in Parasitism

Dickson, Daniel and Vincent solve the case of the Female with Itchy Anus, and reveal the structure of a roundworm membrane protein involved in digestion of nutrients. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free): iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Links for this episode Structure of roundworm digestive complex (PLoS Path) Hero: Dr. Anthony Fauci Fauc...

Dickson, Daniel and Vincent solve the case of the Ugandan Volunteer With Morning Bites and discuss integration of HIV-1 into the Schistosome genome, with a sprinkling of COVID-19 throughout. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Links for this episode PWB social media: Facebook , Instagram , Twitter Daniel...

Dickson, Daniel and Vincent solve the case of the Two Volunteers With Watery Diarrhea, discuss diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 in the New York area, and reveal an approach to preventing honeybee colony collapse by imbuing their gut bacteria with the ability to produce antiviral and antiparasite double-stranded RNAs. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  i...

The TWiP professors solve the case of the Ugandan Child with Splenomegaly, and reveal that mutations in the P. falciparum genome that confer artemisinin resistance interfere with endocytic uptake of hemoglobin. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Links for this episode PWB social media: Facebook , Instagr...

The TWiP DVD solve the case of the Child Who Passed Worms, and discuss a non-human primate model for severe malarial anemia. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Links for this episode PWB social media: Facebook , Instagram , Twitter Primate model of severe malarial anemia (Sci Rep) Ascaris skirt (and more...

The Knights of the TWiP solve the case of the Man Who Lost Weight, and discuss a Plasmodium protein kinase that is a malarial drug target. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Links for this episode PWB social media: Facebook , Instagram , Twitter Protein kinase as malaria drug target (Science) Hero: Myron...

The TWiPsters solve the case of the Rashy Schoolteacher, and reveal a drug from rotifers that live on the snail intermediate host which paralyzes schistosome cercariae and prevents infection of mice. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dand  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Links for this episode Progress towards global eradication of dracunculiasis (MMWR) Rotife...

The TWiPpers of the bite fantastic solve the case of the Indian Man Who Hiked, and discuss the effects of schistosome soluble egg antigen on infection of lymphocytes with HIV-1. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Links for this episode Effect of schistosome soluble egg antigen on HIV-1 infection (PLoS P)...

The TWiP'ers solve the case of the Sudanese Boy With Fever, and reveal antibodies against that slow invasion of red blood cells potentiate other malaria-blocking antibodies. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Links for this episode Antibodies that slow malaria invasion (Cell) Hero: Sir Leonard Rogers ( p...

Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin The TWiPloid organisms solve the case of the Doctor with Chronic Epigastric Pain, and reveal how levels of linoleic acid in the intestine enable the sexual cycle of Toxoplasma gondii  in cats. Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Links for this episode: Determinant of T. gondii sexual cycle (bioRxiv) A Yea...

Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin The podcastellani hosts solve the case of the Sailor With Dysentery, and reveal the first virus discovered in Plasmodium  species. Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Links for this episode: Matryoshka RNA virus of Plasmodium   (bioRxiv) Hero: Rose Gana Fomban Leke Letters read  on TWiP 173 Become a  patr...

Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin The metacyclic TWiPomastigotes solve the case of the Child With a Painless Leg Lesion, and reveal how to kill mosquitoes with a genetically modified fungus. Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Transgenic Metarhizium  kills mosquitoes (Science) Hero: Veena Tandon Letters read  on TWiP 172 Links for this ep...

The Leishmaniacs solve the case of the Child With Band Keratopathy, and reveal a eukaryotic parasite with functional mitochondria but without mitochondrial genomes. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Elmer Pfefferkorn, 87 Eukaryotic parasite without mito...

The TWiPlicates solve the case of the Child With Retinal Granuloma, and discuss an association of the complement protein collectin-11 with the pathophysiology of Chagas disease. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Chagas disease pathophysiology and collec...

The TriTWiPomonads solve the case of the Child Who Passed a Worm, and reveal recombination between bovine and human schistosome species. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: S. bovis  and S. haematobium hybrids (PLoS Path) Hero: Ann Bishop Letters read  on...

The Giardians of the Galaxy solve the case of the Woman With a Colonic Stowaway from Hispaniola, and discuss activation of intestinal tuft cells by Trichinella spiralis . Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: T. spiralis and intestinal tuft cells (PNAS) Her...

The Tremendous Trio solve the case of the Woman With Foul Steatorrhea, and reveal breakdown of the glycocalyx associated with severe and fatal malaria. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Glycocalyx and severe malaria (Clin Inf Dis) Hero: Bridget Ogilvie...

The Podfessors solve the case of the Teenager With Swollen Scrotum, and continue the story arc of Daniel's favorite cells, B-1 cells, and their association with protective immune responses in human Chagas disease. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: B1 ce...

The TWiP team solves the case of the Four Year Old with Fever, Headache, and Cough, and discuss the release of extracellular vesicles from Leishmania amazonensis that manipulate the host immune response. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Crackles (Wikip...

The TWiP legends solve the case of Surfer Sans Septum, and discuss how two symbiotic bacteria in the tsetse fly allow colonization with Trypanosoma brucei . Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: A Tale of Three Species (mBio) V.B. Wigglesworth (Wikipedia) V...

The doctors of awesome solve the case of the Woman Who Visited Lebanon, and reveal that immunoglobulins protect the olfactory organ of trout against infection with the Ich parasite. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Mucosal Ig protect trout from Ich (PL...

The TWiP professors solve the case of the Baby With Pericardial Effusion, and discuss whether the flagellate without a flagella, Dientamoeba fragilis , causes human illness. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Patients with Dientamoeba fragilis  infection...

The TWiPsters solve the case of the Brazilian Immigrant With Heart Problems, and describe how genome organization controls trypanosome antigenic variation. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Trypanosome genome organization and antigenic variation (Nature...

The TWiPlets solve the case of the Electrician from Tamil Nadu with a Liver Mass, and reveal that dogs and humans share a common Chadian Guinea worm. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Chadian Guinea worms in humans and dogs   (PLoS NTD) Hero:  Karl Geor...

The TWiP triptych solve the case of the 9/11 Survivor infested with parasites, and discuss the effect of community ivermectin treatment for onchocerciasis on Loa loa  infections. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Subscribe (free):  iTunes , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Ivermectin for onchocerciasis and loiasi...